


Just Communication [RE]Mix

by Shujinkakusama, SmugLemon



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Reunions, Gen, Pink Diamond Theory, Roleplay Logs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 22:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14725088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmugLemon/pseuds/SmugLemon
Summary: Knowing the truth means setting the record straight with the Diamonds before they can come to Earth looking for "Rose Quartz"--But with Pearl unable to speak freely, Steven needs a little help from Homeworld's side. // RP Log, presumably canon-compliant, post-A Single Pale Rose. We'll see if part two gets finished before the episodes void me out!





	Just Communication [RE]Mix

There hadn’t been a moment’s rest in more than a week.

 

Pearl didn’t blame Ruby or Sapphire for feeling betrayed, though she sorely wished there had been  _ anything _ she could do to mitigate it. But their reunion had gone well; their wedding a welcome distraction from more pressing issues, from the shadows Pearl jumped at knowing that she had finally found a workaround, finally told Steven the truth.

 

She had fallen asleep, twice, in the days that followed. She’d awoken once to Amethyst piling blankets onto her, and once more to Garnet--at least as worn as she was, and it physically hurt to see the tiredness in her best friend’s face when she had her visor off--mid-way through carrying her up to Steven’s bed. He had offered to let her sleep; that time, Lion had taken over the couch. 

 

Amethyst didn’t seem to blame her, although she was surely stung, too. Pearl didn’t blame the others at all. She stayed close to Steven, knowing that it was easier to let him talk over her, for once, and not entirely happy for it. 

 

Steven couldn’t lift the gag order, anyway. He wasn’t Pink Diamond. 

 

And neither was he Rose Quartz. Pearl wondered at the difference in the way he carried himself once he’d come to terms with it, himself, but asking was too close to breaking her vow of silence. 

 

So when Steven suggested that they contact the Diamonds directly, Pearl nearly dropped the glass she was drying in surprise.

 

“Absolutely not!” she shrilled, wide-eyed and panicked and much more ardent than she had been able to bring herself to be about anything else since losing her phone. “Steven, we can’t possibly--”

 

“They deserve to know too, Pearl!” Steven insisted, catching her shaking hands and pulling the glass from her grip before gripping her hands tightly. “Pearl, you didn’t see them at that zoo, they--”

 

“You can’t contact them!” Pearl exclaimed, “You nearly  _ died _ , they put you on trial, they can’t know--”

 

“They already know!” Steven said, “They know I’m Rose Quartz, and they know I’m on Earth--it’s the only way we can fix it!”

 

Pearl tried to protest, but her jaw wouldn’t open, and she felt tears rising in her eyes. 

 

“I can’t,” Pearl managed, voice tight, “Steven, I can’t talk to them, I can’t tell them the truth--they’ll take you from us, they’ll take you back there!”

 

“It’s better than if they show up to kill us!” Steven insisted, gripping Pearl’s hands tightly. “ _ Please _ , Pearl… We can go through Lion’s mane, and get to Lars, and we’ll find a way to contact them!”

 

The alabaster Gem knew before he had gotten past  _ please _ that she stood no chance. She sank down in front of the boy, knees trembling, and pulled him into a crushing hug. Steven squeaked, and Pearl let go--just barely--because it was so easy to forget that the boy needed air, that he was just as much organic as he was a Gem.

 

For several moments, she said nothing, and Steven rubbed her back while she cried into his shoulder. 

 

“I have a way,” Pearl said at length, scrubbing at the tears that hadn’t soaked through Steven’s shirt with the back of her hand. Wide, dark eyes peered up at her, surprised, and Pearl stood to produce from her Gem a prism--identical in every way to the one Peridot had retrieved from the moon base.

 

Steven should have been surprised, but it made  _ sense _ . The unease on Pearl’s face was enough to keep him quiet, for the moment.

 

“We should go outside,” Pearl murmured, turning the communicator in hand, and her gaze was galaxies away already. “I don’t want her to see how messy your room is.”

 

“Her?” Steven asked, following Pearl without protest as she made her way to the door, and he was somewhat disappointed when Pearl didn’t answer. 

 

In the lee of the cliff, just out of sight of the beach house, with the Temple sufficiently out of view, Pearl twisted the communicator until the yellow face lined up with the pink; then stepped back as it rose into the air above her.

 

Yellow Pearl prided herself on possessing many talents, and rightfully so. She was organized, efficient, and calculating. She was required to be, after all. As Her Diamond’s most trusted companion, these traits ensured Her Diamond operated at peak performance without having to worry about all the little details her pearl could handle on her own. Her work was hardly work at all, as easy and enjoyable as it was. Even so, every so often she enjoyed a brief reprieve.

 

Yellow Diamond maintained a rather tight schedule, and that day was no different. She had an appointment to meet with the superiors of the latest Gemtech research project—science blabber that the pearl took no interest in herself. Knowing this, Her Diamond had so generously offered her a chance to remain in her quarters on her own. And thank the stars above for the luck. When her communicator began to glow a long-absent hue of pink, Yellow felt a wave of panic wash over her. Who could have a hold of another Communicator and be calling from that line?

 

Yellow steeled herself, taking on the same stance she always adapted when taking a call.

 

“This is the Yellow Diamond Communication Channel,” she said, trying to make sense of the image before her. An unfamiliar background and a pearl in front of her. A pearl.

 

A pearl with a strikingly familiar gemstone set in her forehead.

 

But no, it couldn’t be her. That was impossible. Wasn’t it?

 

She blinked. Her next words stalled on her tongue. She fought to get them out before the pause could grow too long.

 

“This line is only for those authorized to use it.”

 

Pearl could feel her hands trembling, and was glad that the communicator was hovering ahead of her, even if Yellow likely could see that she was shaking. Steven certainly could, but he was short enough that he was likely out of frame on the other Gem’s end; Pearl tried to straighten herself, wished sorely that she had thought this through, knowing that her courage would have failed her if she had.

 

“I have the authorization,” Pearl said stiffly, and it took all of her willpower not to fidget under Yellow’s scrutiny.

 

“It’s been a long time, big sister.”

 

Now Yellow couldn’t help but falter, whirling her head around quickly to ensure that she was alone. Her bottom lip quivered, only slightly, but she assured herself it was only in anger. This had to be some sort of imposter. Someone playing a cruel trick. The pearl she had once known as her sister had long since been...

 

It was for the better of Homeworld. The War. The Final Strike. Losing the Pink Pearl had been a cost that had to be paid. Yellow was tempted to shut down the call right then and there to avoid the possible trouble that would surely come from it. Perhaps she should have. 

 

Her nostrils flared.

 

“This can’t be right!” She said, choosing instead to engage with the pearl.

 

“How did you get ahold of this line? How can I be sure you’re--why, I mean, you can’t be...!”

 

“It’s me,” Pearl insisted, but her voice was smaller than she wanted it to be, and Steven reached to settle a reassuring hand on her side, altogether lost by the exchange. Pearl’s eyes were watery, and it was so hard to speak, so hard to find words that were appropriate. “Do you really need my code? It’s Jubilee.”

 

Something about the way she spoke hurt Steven’s heart, but he found his free hand traveling to cover his Gem.

 

Didn’t Pearl say she didn’t know Yellow Diamond’s pearl?

 

She drew in a quivering breath, watched her sister’s frantic gestures with worry, and asked in a whisper; “Are you somewhere secure?”

 

At that word—Jubilee—Yellow finally had to admit to herself that what she was seeing was the truth. She hadn’t heard that word in millennia. Not since the last time Pink Pearl had said it.

 

“I am,” she replied breathlessly. She flung her arms out, tugging the screen closer to better scrutinize the pearl on the other side. Her outfit was nothing like her old uniform, her hair had changed, and she looked worn. But that oblong little stone was just as smooth and polished as the last time Yellow had laid eyes on it.

 

“You aren’t shattered,” she observed aloud. Just because it was true didn’t make it easy to accept. Decades of suppressing thoughts would do that to a Gem.

 

“No cracks. Not even a hairline fracture.”

 

Pearl smiled wryly, bobbing her head in a nod. “I’ve been good,” she said, knowing it was a lie by any reasonable standard expected of pearls of their calibur back in the Home Galaxy. She paused, though, and frowned a little. “I… there are--so many reasons, Yellow, that I couldn’t call. And I can’t--explain some. Most.” She swallowed hard, glancing askance, and then bent to lift Steven into her arms.

 

Startled, Steven almost toppled backwards, but caught himself around the Gem’s shoulders with a cry of dismay. “Pearl?!”

 

Pearl hugged him gently, turning again to look up at Yellow with a watery smile. “This is Steven. I believe you’ve met.”

 

Yellow pushed the screen back into place, looking rightfully horrified as Pearl brought Steven into view.

 

“Rose Quartz,” she gasped, fighting the instinct to call Her Diamond to her immediately. 

 

“I should have known you were still there if she was, but I didn’t dare to hope...” Yellow quickly cut herself off, but the words had already spilled out of her. And as if she needed another thought on top of the thousand rushing through her mind, ‘hope’ made her think of Blue and how  _ she _ would react to this news. Yellow’s entire body buzzed and she couldn’t tell if it was out of excitement or sheer terror or some overwhelming mix of the two.

 

But now that she knew her sister was alive, she was a thousand years overdue for a thorough berating. If this was the only chance they got to speak, she was going to make sure she got it.

 

“Ohh!” Yellow groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Pearl, what were you thinking?! We knew you were living some sort of double life, but why in the name of all the galaxy would you do it? You had everything! A perfect Home, a perfect role, a Diamond who clearly adored you. And you throw it all away? For what?! What could this traitorous, shapeshifting Rose Quartz possibly offer you to have made you give everything up? I mean, just look at her now! I can barely stand to. This shape she’s taken. It’s horrifying!”

 

Yellow turned up her pointed nose at Rose, grimacing. A human form. How shameful. And to know her sister was so closely associated with Rose made it all the worse. Although, finally getting these words out— words she’d held deep inside and barely dared to think about— was helping.

 

“Explain yourself!”

 

Pearl had to cover her mouth against the urge to cut Yellow off, and as angry as her sister’s words made her, as much as they hurt, she still couldn’t  _ say _ anything to counterpoint. Steven looked several shades paler by the time she finished, close to tears himself, and he opened his mouth to object.

 

And to his surprise, Pearl managed to speak first.

 

“Yellow,” she said carefully, voice tight. “Let me remind you of what I said.  _ There are things I cannot explain _ .”

 

That was already too close, and Steven had the forethought to catch her hand before it could move over her mouth again. 

 

“Pearl, if you can’t--”

 

“No, I want to try,” Pearl said gently, squeezing Steven’s hand and looking back up at her sister. It went without saying that she would cry; she knew it, but she tried to speak around it. “Yellow, this is Steven. He is not a rose quartz soldier. He has never broken anyone. He’s never wanted to. He’s half human, and he has Rose Quartz’s Gem. He’ll be turning fifteen years old this summer. I adore him, and I maintain his home, which is perfect, and he isn’t very good at shapeshifting.”

 

By now, there was no hiding the tears pouring down her face, and Steven stared up at her, wide-eyed, before hugging her so tightly that she almost couldn’t finish.

 

“It’s not the same role,” she said slowly, “But I’m… teaching him how to be a Gem. Here on Earth. Because this is his planet. And that hasn’t changed since the last time we all saw each other.”

 

“I don’t understand, Pearl,” she insisted. “From teaching the elite to teaching some pseudo-Gem...”

 

Yellow caught herself. Went back over Pearl’s words. She was choosing them carefully. How foolish of her to miss that; she was usually a master of picking up the hidden meanings in a Gem’s conversation.

 

_ The same role. The same planet. Since they’d last seen each other. _

 

Yellow remembered with vivid clarity the last time she’d been in the same room with Pearl. Her back had been turned to her and Pink Diamond, mirroring her superior. She often took that stance in the presence of Pink after she’d been given the Earth colony. She found her words were practically useless with the younger Diamond. And Yellow had no ability to speak to Pearl—not while knowing of her secret rebellion.

 

But could Pearl really be implying that in their first time seeing each other in so long, they were also in the presence of a Diamond? The tears flowing down her face were certainly telling.

 

Yellow swallowed nothing.

 

“Speak frankly with me, Pearl. Please.”

 

Pearl watched Yellow’s face, watched the way her thoughts so plainly played across her eyes, and she shook her head. Yellow had always been quick-witted and analytical; Pearl had envied that in her sister as much as she’d dreaded the farce of meeting with the other Diamonds after the rebellion began. She suspected Blue knew--after their attack on the Sky Arena, Blue Pearl hadn’t spoken to her without prompting, and she had always covered her eyes. Pearl suspected that she hadn’t the stomach to look at her.

 

But Yellow, she had been the bigger risk. Blue Diamond herself was terrifying and dangerous, but she was lawful; the Judge tried to follow her own laws, to maintain order. Yellow Diamond had a short fuse.

 

“I can’t, Yellow,” she said softly, “I would have called you centuries ago if I thought I could.”

 

“Um…” Steven started, turning to face Yellow Pearl with some uncertainty. “Pearl can’t… and I don’t know everything. But… I can try.”

 

Yellow felt her insides twisting into knots. 

 

“Ohhhh Pearl!” She cried out. “I don’t know if I should even be listening to this without My Diamond present. I- I probably shouldn’t even be communicating with you! And with... with...”

 

She looked at the little human boy in Pearl’s arms. He had stood in front of two of the most powerful Gems ever to have lived and said he was Rose Quartz. He said he’d shattered Pink Diamond. And then that Zircon had filled his guilty plea with a dozen or so holes.

 

Where had Pink Diamond’s Pearl been?

 

How had Rose Quartz gotten so close to Pink Diamond?

 

How had Pink Diamond been shattered with a sword?

 

“Who are you? Really?” She asked, nasally voice unusually quiet and wavering.

 

Pearl’s grip on Steven tightened minutely, and the boy searched her face worriedly. The mention of Yellow Diamond, of having to face her, felt like being plunged into the arctic sea, only Pearl was fairly certain she could live through that. It didn’t slow or stop her tears, though, even if Yellow’s question--directed at Steven, but one she couldn’t answer for him--robbed her of her voice. 

 

“It’s okay Pearl,” Steven said quietly, returning her hug. Pearl ducked her face into her ward’s shoulder to hide her tears, and he looked back up at the hologram of Yellow Pearl.

 

“I’m… Steven. Steven Universe,” he said, a little uncertainly. “I didn’t… mean to lie at the trial. My dad is a human, but my mom--my whole life, everyone said she was Rose Quartz. The leader of the Crystal Gems. And I have her Gem.” The boy paused, lifting his shirt, as if that would help provide proof. “That was why I turned myself in, when Aquamarine and Topaz came here.”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Pearl whimpered into his sleeve, and Steven tried awkwardly to soothe her, brows furrowed.

 

“It’s okay,” he insisted, and Pearl shook her head, because it wasn’t, not at all. “She made you promise not to tell anyone the truth.”

 

The color drained from Yellow’s face. Because all of the pieces were finally connecting and she, of all people, was the one being burdened with the weight of this unthinkable truth.

 

Her eyes fixed on Pearl, who was seemingly unable to speak up for herself. Which meant she had a Direct Order placed on her. But if Pink Diamond was gone for good, wouldn’t the Order have been overridden? Oh stars above, every second of this conversation was getting worse.

 

“And where… where… is she?” Yellow asked, not ready to accept any possibility until she heard it for herself.

 

“Um…” Steven faltered, a little uncertain of how to explain, and he looked down at where his Gem peeked out under his t-shirt. “Well… She’s… me. Kind of. Half of me? Rose Quartz didn’t shatter Pink Diamond; she  _ was _ Pink Diamond.”

 

He paused, and Pearl scrubbed at her eyes even though the tears wouldn’t stop. The boy sighed. “But she’s not me. And I’m not her. I don’t have almost any of her memories, and I can’t… make it so Pearl can say anything about it.”

 

“I tried,” Pearl whimpered around thousands of years of silence lodged in her throat. “I’m sorry, it was never meant to go like this.”

 

Yellow nearly wilted where she stood. Pink Diamond wasn’t gone. Not really. She was in some strange new form with a whole new set of memories.

 

And Yellow had just thrown a dozen insults her way.

 

“Your majesty!!” She screeched. Her wobbly arms came up to salute Steven, and she could feel her entire form being eaten alive by the heat of embarrassment.

 

“Please forgive my ignorance! You look nothing like your former self! I- I didn’t mean a word of what I said!”

 

Yellow felt spineless. Pathetic. The exact opposite of how she always carefully carried herself. If Her Diamond had been there, she would have gladly let Her dissipate her form so she could properly hide from this mortification.

 

“I--uh… huh?” Steven stammered, startled and confused, and it was his turn to be at a loss for words. “No, it’s--Er… I mean… it wasn’t nice, but--I don’t look like her, and mom was really pretty, and…” he trailed off, and to his surprise, Pearl managed to chuckle.

 

“Yellow, he isn’t a Diamond,” she managed, “He’s the sweetest, most harmless creature you could ever hope to meet. He doesn’t even have Blue’s temper.”

 

Yellow was dumbfounded. She slowly lowered her salute, mouth hanging just slightly agape.

 

“And he’s a human,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “I need to sit down.”

 

In her usual over-dramatic fashion, Yellow pulled the screen along with her to her Diamond’s chaise, where she somehow managed to gracefully plop onto the satin lining the massive chair. The return to more composed dramatics pointed to her slowly recovering some semblance of clarity again, even after all of this had been unwillingly thrust upon her.

 

“Pearl, you’ve always been causing me trouble,” she said, her sisterly tone returning. “But this surely tops anything.”

 

It gave Pearl some time to recover, too, and by the time Yellow had arranged herself like some Victorian woman on the verge of fainting, the younger Gem was able to smile. “Oh forgive me,” she said, entirely teasingly, “I suppose you would rather I go to Blue. I’m sure she would be far more receptive. To say nothing of the fact that I don’t believe she’s ever left the Judge’s side, or taken a private call.”

 

Pearl knew she couldn’t be sure of that, but she so badly wanted it; for nothing to have changed for her sisters, who inexplicably enjoyed their service to the Empire. It would have been so  _ wonderful _ if their lives hadn’t been disrupted by the brief time Pearl had been there to cause trouble at Rose’s side. 

 

Steven watched the pair, visibly relieved that they seemed to be getting along. But still, he worried…

 

“Um, Yellow Pearl?” he asked, not entirely sure if it was his place to call her that. The Diamonds seemed to omit colors entirely--would Pearl’s name have been Pink, once upon a time?--but he wasn’t sure if that was familiar or, really, any kind of protocol. “Do you have time to talk to us right now? I don’t want to stop you--but Yellow Diamond won’t show up, will she?” The boy dropped his voice, feeling somewhat sheepish. “I’m kind of afraid of telling her like this.”

 

“I certainly have the time, Steven Universe,” she replied. Like Steven, she wasn’t entirely sure how to address him. If he didn’t want the title of Diamond and insisted he wasn’t Rose Quartz, then she was left only with his proper name and no title. It seemed barbaric, but then again so did most things about Earth. Strange too was calling Pearl by such a general designation. But Yellow had vowed to disassociate the rebel from her title long ago. She would always be her sister, crafted from the same batch, but she had abandoned her Diamond and therefore abandoned being Pink.

 

Or at least, so Yellow had though.

 

“I keep careful track of where My Diamond is, but Pearl is right; I’m not like Blue. I enjoy a moment alone now and then.”

 

The boy breathed a sigh of relief at that, and he felt Pearl relax a little, even if she still kept her arms firmly around his hips. “Steven is fine!” he said quickly, “I um… er… we kind of didn’t discuss what to do… if we actually got in touch with the Diamonds.”

 

“I can’t discuss anything,” Pearl pointed out dryly, and Steven swallowed hard, looking sheepish.

 

“Yeah… that’s… kind of a big part of the problem,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head uncertainly. “I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Homeworld, somehow, but… er, Yellow Pearl? What do you think we should do?”

 

“Me?” Yellow asked, placing a dainty hand against her chest.

 

“You really intend to drag me into the middle of this? I don’t know if you recall, but My Diamond is on a tirade trying to track you down. As far as She knows, you are responsible for shattering Pink Diamond.”

 

It had taken ages for Her Diamond to stop arguing with Blue Diamond over the results of the disastrous trial. Yellow suspected she still had ill feelings over it all, and knew she wanted nothing more than for all evidence of Rose Quartz and her rebellion to be wiped from existence. As intelligent and brilliant as Her Diamond was, it would take a miracle to convince her what Steven and Pearl said was the truth. Her Diamond wouldn’t be interested in the words of a forgotten pearl and the biggest traitor in the galaxy.

 

“Can’t you just take back your original form?” Yellow asked simply. “Even if you prefer this one; it would only take a moment to show her who you are.”

 

“He’s half-human, Yellow. He couldn’t shapeshift into Pink Diamond if he wanted to,” Pearl said, eyes downcast. “And even if he could, it would only look like shapeshifting.”

 

Steven frowned deeply. “It’s not--we’re not trying to put you in the middle of it,” Steven insisted, “We just…  _ I _ just don’t want… them to still be so sad, I saw Blue Diamond on Earth, I kept--crying, because she was crying. I saw them at the zoo, in the room with all the bubbled rose quartz Gems, and maybe… just… the truth would be better, wouldn’t it?”

 

Pearl said nothing. Steven’s optimism was normally catching, but the fact remained that the truth had been buried deliberately. 

 

“The truth would be better,” Yellow had to agree.

 

“My Diamond has been terribly upset. She may not show it the way Blue Diamond does, but She hasn’t been her usual self since She got the terrible news.”

 

Yellow looked away from the screen, choosing instead to focus her eyes on her fingers as they traced little geometric patterns against the satin. Her voice grew quiet, but she was still audible to the two on Earth.

 

“I’ve seen how distraught She is over Pink Diamond’s shattering. I’ve tried my best to help, but no matter what Blue and I do we just can’t fill the hole that’s been left.”

 

She looked back to Steven. He looked nothing like a Diamond. Perhaps the only thing he shared with her was a slight similarity in the shape of their hair and a distinct brightness in the eyes. How could they convince the Diamonds that he was who he said he was?

 

“But if they knew she wasn’t truly gone, they might finally have their spirits lifted.”

 

If only they had acted that way eons ago, Pearl thought sourly, unable to say so, even if it was clear on her face. Steven could see it--just barely, out of the corner of his eye, and he frowned. “Mom said--they didn’t care, and they wouldn’t listen, and that was why you had to do it, right?” this was directed at Pearl, who looked briefly horrified, jaw set. “But they do care. It’s like… like Connie’s mom. That’s why she had her face in my dream!”

 

“She had  _ what _ ?” Pearl asked, startled and confused. “Yellow Diamond and Dr. Maheswaran look nothing alike, Steven!”

 

“Yeah, but they  _ feel _ alike,” the boy insisted, “She seems mean, and intense, and controlling, and doesn’t listen, and seems like she doesn’t care, and she made mom feel like she had to lie--but she did love her, I heard her say it!”

 

Yellow didn’t know what Steven Universe was blabbering on about at first. But when he spoke about her Diamond as if he knew Her, Yellow felt a tight squeeze in her chest.

 

“She did love her,” Yellow repeated with a nod. “Still does love her. She thinks of her all the time.”

 

She glanced quickly at the door, fearing somehow Her Diamond would walk in ahead of schedule and interrupt. Yellow was saying things she knew she shouldn’t, but it was Pearl and a form of Pink Diamond she was speaking to—surely if there was anyone she could speak to on this matter it was the two of them.

 

“She only wants to erase Pink from Her memory because it hurts Her so terribly!”

 

Yellow’s mouth was dry. And she wasn’t looking at Steven anymore. She was looking at Pearl.

 

Yellow’s words cut Pearl like a knife, because there was no doubt in her mind that those words were meant for her as well.

 

There were things she couldn’t say. Where it came to private whispers that her Diamond had shared in confidence, secrets from millennia ago, Pearl knew better than to speak them now, even without a direct order. 

 

“It will never stop hurting,” Pearl said softly, cradling Steven close as if there was any danger at all, much less any she could shield him from. “Yellow, please believe me, it never heals. She will wonder, and it will fester, and wiping our planet away won’t make Her forget. She, and the Judge, and Her Holiness--they’ll always wonder. They’ll always ache. Even if they bury it so far down that they never speak of it again.”

 

Steven watched Pearl’s eyes grow distant, then sad, and he stroked her hair, hoping it would help, somehow.

 

“You missed their pearls, too,” he murmured, “That’s why you wouldn’t look when Peridot called, isn’t it?”

 

Pearl chuckled dryly. “I didn’t try to kidnap you to show you the Home Galaxy because I missed anything else there, Steven,” she murmured, mustering up the courage to look Yellow in the eyes again. “I miss you, Yellow. I miss Blue. I think about you both so often.” She paused, knowing it was still treasonous to say, even though she also knew that Steven would never fault her for it. “Even Rose didn’t know I still had that communicator.”

 

“Well,” Yellow said, stamping down the tears that were close to surfacing, “At least now I know you didn’t abandon us for some rogue rose quartz. Everything you did—the sneaking around, the lying, the disappearing. You did it because you were following your Diamond. Blue and I... would we really have done any differently in your place?”

 

Yellow had always known Pearl was able to break rules more easily than her sister pearls could. She was rebellious down to her core. It had scared Yellow that, deep down somewhere, she might have the same makeup and turn to rebellion herself. But this finally put that worry to rest as well. There wasn’t a law in the galaxy she wouldn’t break for Her Diamond.

 

She was silent for several moments, because the words were hard to find, and because she knew that Yellow wouldn’t like them. “We did it for Earth,” Pearl said, “At first, it was… she wanted it, and no alternatives worked, and time was short. Earth could never be Hers if the colony were completed. The Commander wouldn’t  _ listen _ , Yellow, and the Judge, she…”

 

She couldn’t finish that sentence. Pearl’s hand found its place over her mouth, and Steven stared, eyes wide.

 

“...Blue Diamond gave her the idea,” he realized, and his heart ached. “When she said--on the moon, when she said the colony would… get finished as long as Pink Diamond was there to rule it. That’s why she had to fake her death.”

 

“Well don’t tell her that!” Yellow squawked suddenly.

 

“Blue Diamond already blames herself enough for this mess. Poor little Blue has been drowning in tears for decades now. And  _ she _ feels guilty in turn. Of course Blue pleases her Diamond, but no matter what she does the tears always come back.”

 

Yellow sighed.

 

“It would be wonderful for things to return to the way they used to be...”

 

“A little blame would be appropriate,” Pearl mumbled, but she knew that her sister was as likely to agree as the Diamonds were. She fixed her gaze beyond the hologram, toward the sun’s reflection on the sea. “There’s no way to undo anything.”

 

Steven frowned, looking between the pearls. This wasn’t going at all like he’d have liked. “Um... Yellow Pearl? Do you know if the Diamonds are coming here?”

 

“She can’t tell you that, Steven. It’s treason,” Pearl said, “We can’t ask her to break more laws than speaking to us to begin with.”

 

“Well, technically this Line is for communicating with the Diamonds and their pearls.”

 

She glanced between the two of them. Steven Universe was not a Diamond, but he had the Gem of one. Pearl was a traitorous criminal, Yellow knew, but she’d never been properly tried in court and convicted of anything. As far as anyone knew, it was Rose Quartz’s pearl that had aided in the rebellion, not Pink Diamond’s pearl. Pink Pearl was the Gem standing in front of her, even if her Diamond no longer existed. Which she didn’t. But not entirely.

 

Yellow pinched the bridge of her nose as she pondered the conundrum.

 

“And if we’re interpreting things a certain way, you both have authorization to use it. In fact, if it were the true Pink Diamond with you, Pearl, I’d have no choice to but to answer the question, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Short of an explicit order from Her Holiness or the others, no,” Pearl said slowly, looking up at her sister, somewhat awestricken. Of the two, Yellow had always been more willing to interpret laws as guidelines, as opposed to Blue--but neither was particularly rebellious, and Pearl had never dared to hope for their help, even eons ago. 

 

“Would it still…” Steven started, brows furrowed. “Is it even a problem when it’s not to do anything bad? If they’re already coming here, that just means we can be ready to see them. It’s worse if we miss each other.”

 

“I don’t think it works that way, Steven,” Pearl said, “We would have to somehow convey to the Diamonds in advance that you want to talk to them, and I won’t let Yellow put herself at risk to do that.”

 

“If only we knew a Gem of high rank we could work with,” Yellow mused aloud. “Then I could arrange an audience with her and My Diamond on Earth. Say she was on a nearby colony, willing to travel to the former Pink-claimed territory, and it was a matter of urgent importance. It would be a ruse, of course. But a ruse well worth executing for the ultimate payoff.”

 

But even the thought of telling such a small lie to Her Diamond sent uncomfortable shivers through Yellow’s form. Her Diamond trusted her. She told Her everything.

 

But she wouldn’t tell Her about this call, would she?

 

“No Gem alive would work with us, though. And what fool would go to that planet when it’s set to...”

 

Yellow’s chest felt hollow when she remembered that Pearl being alive on Earth was barely any comfort. If she was stuck on Earth, what would happen to her when the Geoweapon went off? Finally she felt the tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

 

“Ohhh Pearl, this is nerve wracking! Why, why, why couldn’t Your Diamond have been content to live without a colony? Of course, no offense meant to you, Steven Universe, but if only Her Grace had left that little rock alone! There wouldn’t be this awful mess. You’re worried about  _ my _ safety? Pearl, I’m worried about yours!”

 

Color flooded Pearl’s cheeks. Of course Her Diamond had wanted a colony! It wasn’t unreasonable at all, and Her Holiness had picked Earth to begin with!

 

But then Yellow was on about some hair-brained scheme, and Pearl looked down at Steven. They had ties, but not to anyone in the Yellow court. No one of importance. Yellow needn’t know about Lars and his friends.

 

Except...

 

“Wait,  _ me _ ?!” Pearl squawked, distracted again, staring wide-eyed at her sister. “I’m not the one in danger, Yellow, you’ve got the Commander to contend with!”

 

Yellow’s face contorted, disgust replacing her fear rather quickly.

 

“What are you implying?! I’m not ‘contending’ with anything, Pearl. She’s My Diamond. She wouldn’t hurt me. She wouldn’t put me on a planet destined to explode!”

 

She scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

 

“I can’t believe you haven’t changed a bit! Thousands of years I haven’t seen you, but you still think so poorly of My Diamond. I only suggested yours could have listened to mine.”

 

“How is it thinking poorly of a Gem famed for her temper? Of course I’m concerned for your safety, Yellow, if I thought it were safe to contact you whenever I pleased, why would I wait so long to do it?!” Pearl snapped back, feeling tears brimming in her eyes. “Yours could have listened to a thing mine said before things went so horribly catastrophic!”

 

“Listened to the inexperienced ramblings of a Gem who didn’t know how to command a pod of beta quartzes let alone the entire Homeworld army? My Diamond had conquered more territories and controlled more forces than yours could have ever dreamed of, and she had the audacity to question her authority? You and I both know who taught your Diamond battle strategy, Pearl!” Yellow spat back. “And it certainly wasn’t part of Pink Diamond’s intended curriculum!”

 

“Yes, Yellow, she ought to have listened to her own sister, her fellow Diamond, before we needed armies or a manufactured conflict to get her attention for more than a moment, before our colony had anything to do with soldiers or wars at all! Before she decided to doom everything we worked for! Do you honestly think we wanted to fight in the first place? Are you that utterly unaware of how either of us feels even after all this time?!”

 

“Pearl!” Steven cried out, and the alabaster Gem jolted in surprise, having nearly forgotten that the boy was between them. He caught her face in his hands, and Pearl blinked rapidly against her tears, long-simmering and thousands of years overdue. “Pearl,  _ stop… _ it doesn’t matter now. It’s been thousands of years! Fighting with Yellow Pearl’s not going to fix any of this.”

 

Pearl’s jaw trembled, and she managed a tiny nod before burying her face in Steven’s shoulder, and he wasn’t sure that she had spoken loudly enough for the apology to be heard on Yellow’s end. Still, despite his discomfort, Steven hugged her. “I know you’ve been holding it in this whole time,” he said gently, “But if we can fix things with the Diamonds now, you and Yellow Pearl can yell and cry all you want later! We just have to get them to listen.”

 

“Getting them to listen is exactly the problem,” Yellow said, turning her eyes away from the screen as Pearl cried. She was always quick to do that. To tear up for sympathy. Well she wouldn’t get it from Yellow. Yellow scrubbed the corners of her eyes.  _ She _ wasn’t crying. Her eyes were just itchy. 

 

“If only we had proof!”

 

And then it occurred to her. Of course her first plan had been to get some other high ranking Gem to do her bidding. That was always Yellow’s first line of thought. But there was technology on Homeworld that could prove exactly what type of Gem Steven Universe possessed. There had to be.

 

“There may be a way to get proof,” she said, looking back at the screen.

 

Pearl sniffed, trying to collect herself. The shards that Pink had used to fake her death would have been proof, but those had been very carefully collected after the staged assassination. 

 

“We destroyed everything,” Pearl managed, voice tight, trying to find words she could say. “There shouldn’t be anything identifiable in the armory. Everything else is gone.”

 

Steven said nothing, trying to think, trying to puzzle together an option. He wasn’t a tactician. He wished Connie could be here, because she was smarter than him, more diplomatic, and she didn’t have a curse that stopped her from speaking, or…

 

“The ship,” Steven said suddenly, eyes lighting up. “If we can get the ship to turn on--I know where it is.”

 

“What?!” Pearl sounded horrified. “Steven, you can’t just go places and find these things--”

 

“Lion showed me!” he insisted, “I didn’t know that’s what it was--but--it’s legs, right? In the desert? Even if we can’t make it fly, it’s got to have a… a call screen, something like that, like the moon base did. I was able to call Lars with Yellow Diamond’s code, I… wouldn’t that be convincing enough?”

 

“You still have her ship?!” Yellow asked, bewildered.

 

“Steven Universe, that’s perfect! Oh my goodness, we’ll be on the ship in no time—“ she hadn’t meant to let it slip but it was too late. The words were spilling out of her in her excitement. “You have Pink Diamond’s Gem; you can operate that ship. You’re the only one who could use its control panel to call  _ My _ Diamond’s ship!”

 

Yellow was lighting up now, working it out in her head. Steven Universe could call Her Diamond and show Her directly that he was Pink Diamond in a new form. She would be delighted. She would have Her spirits lifted. She would praise Yellow for facilitating such an amazing reunion!

 

“She’ll be so overwhelmed,” Yellow said, very visibly getting lost in her fantasy, her little cheeks blushing a deep dandelion color. Her Diamond would scoop her up in a hug and thank her for her work. Oh, the ways She would reward her for finding Her lost Pink!

 

Pearl knew that look all too well, but she couldn’t help smiling a little, despite herself. Yellow had always been hopelessly in love with her Diamond. In that way, they were more or less unified. Pearl couldn’t fathom wanting to make the tyrant happy in any capacity, but it was good to see her sister smiling. 

 

“We still ought to be cautious,” Pearl pointed out, “I don’t think she can know about this call.”

 

Yellow reeled herself in, clearing her throat and setting aside the thoughts of Yellow Diamond’s praise for now.

 

“Yes, of course. I knew that, Pearl.” She smiled at the two of them, smoothing out the sides of her hair a bit.

 

“It wouldn’t do much good to have Her worked up before the proof is right in front of Her. I know My Diamond well— She’ll be so relieved to know Pink Diamond was never shattered at all. Oh, Pearl! I only wish I could tell Blue! But I suppose she’ll find out soon enough.”

 

At the mention of their remaining sister, Pearl faltered, hugging Steven a little tighter. “I hope she’ll forgive me,” she said, dropping her gaze. “Especially since I can’t… explain it all, like I would like.”

 

“Can’t the other Diamonds change it?” Steven piped up. “I can’t lift orders mom made, but… But it’s not fair that you can’t talk about it now.”

 

Yellow shook her head gently. Goodness, Steven Universe seemed intelligent, but he knew so little about Gemkind. Had Pearl given up her job teaching? If this panned out they planned, Yellow would certainly be giving Steven some lessons he clearly needed.

 

“We are bound to Our Diamonds,” she said. “A direct order like that cannot be lifted my My Diamond or Blue’s.”

 

Pearl said nothing, and even knowing what he did now, that was fundamentally  _ weird _ . Steven frowned, mulling it over.

 

“But isn’t…” he started, “There’s a fourth, right? All the old signs have four. And there’s a white mural on the moon base!”

 

Yellow’s eyes went wide.

 

“Y-you mean, White Diamond? Her Holiness?” 

 

She nearly scoffed. “Pearl!”

 

She looked at the Crystal Gem with admonishment for not even explaining the very basics of their Diamond hierarchy to the boy. Oh there was more work to be done than she initially thought.

 

“My Stars, this is—oh I certainly don’t have the time for this now.” She got to her feet, lifting her screen with her and glancing towards the door.

 

“We’ll have to say our goodbyes for now.”

 

Yellow felt a pang of sadness run through her at the word ‘goodbye’. She hadn’t had the time to catch Pearl up on all the important goings-on. But she knew there was a chance she’d get to see her again, perhaps even face to face soon.

 

Pearl blanched at that, at the very idea of having to face Her Holiness again after everything she had done against Her Empire. But Yellow was hurrying to end the call, and Pearl had to file away that distress for another time.

 

“Yellow?” she asked abruptly, “A request, before you go?”

 

Yellow paused. She was eager to get the Communicator away so she had time to compose herself before Her Diamond walked through the door and started inquiring as to what she’d been doing in Her absence. But for Pearl... she would put off ending the call just a bit longer.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Give Blue my love?” Pearl’s voice was hopeful, if uncertain. “Obviously, we can’t… say anything, it will have to be a surprise, but… find some excuse to pass on my affection, if you can. I know I’ll get my own chance, if this plan works, but it’s so long overdue.”

 

Yellow felt her chest blooming with warmth, radiating from her Gem and until it filled her entire form. She grinned quite genuinely, though her eyes hid a twinge of sadness because it  _ was _ so long overdue.

 

“Of course,” she agreed. “And Pearl... you should know that Blue still holds a place for you in her heart.” It was daring to say, especially when Blue wasn’t there to know the whole truth. But Yellow knew it would be of some comfort to Pearl. “When this is sorted out, she’ll surely show that to you herself.”

 

It took visible effort not to burst into tears all over again at the idea. Somehow, deep down, Yellow’s forgiveness had been the easiest to yearn for; Blue’s seemed completely implausible, especially based on Steven’s recollection of the Judge’s mourning. 

 

“Yeah! When it’s all settled, we can all be together,” Steven exclaimed, giving Pearl an excited squeeze. “I don’t think the Diamonds will fit, but I can clean my room!”

 

“I’ll clean your room, Steven, or Yellow will lose her voice screaming at me for the mess,” Pearl managed, ruffling the boy’s hair affectionately. She turned her gaze toward the other pearl, mustering up a smile. “And don’t forget that I love you too, sister.”

 

She untangled an arm from around Steven, and the boy clutched her shoulders even though he wouldn’t fall, perched on her hip like a starfish. Pearl pulled the communicator back. “For now… Pink Jubilee, out.”

 

As she turned the communicator in hand, before the call could end, Steven blurted out:

 

“Does that mean I have aunts?!”

 


End file.
